"description": "Business advisory for New Zealand SME owners. Exit planning, growth and change, done sensibly.",

The short answer. Two years earlier than you think. Most owners leave it until they're already burnt out, which is exactly when the business looks least attractive to buyers. The best sales happen when preparation starts 12 to 24 months before you list. Time enough to clean up the financials, reduce how much the business depends on you personally and build a clear growth story. If you're even thinking about it, that's your signal to have a conversation.

A coach asks good questions and helps you find your own answers. An advisor brings experience and will tell you straight when they think you're heading the wrong way. Most good ones (including us) do both, depending on the moment. What matters more than the label is this. Does the person have real experience in the kind of situation you're facing, or are they working from a textbook?

Anywhere from three months to three years, depending on where you're starting from. A well-run business with clean financials, strong systems and a team that doesn't depend on the owner can be sale-ready quickly. A business where the owner is still the heart of every decision takes longer. Usually 12 to 24 months of deliberate work to make it genuinely transferable. The Time To Go guide and our FastTrack Strategic Exit Programme are designed to walk you through it either way.

The Regional Business Partner Network (RBPN) is a government-funded programme that helps New Zealand SMEs access business capability support. Eligible businesses can receive up to 50% co-funding (commonly capped at $5,000 per year) toward advisory services from registered providers. RegenerationHQ is a registered service provider. If you qualify, we can help you apply. Start at business.govt.nz or talk to us. Our main subsidised product is The FastTrack Business Exit Programme at $1,200.00 ($600.00 is your share).

Yes and often more profitably than chasing new customers. Most SMEs have hidden profit already sitting in their business. Unnecessary costs, inefficient processes, underperforming products or pricing that hasn't kept up with reality. We often find 5 to 15% of margin just by tightening what's already there, before touching sales. Growth is good, but protecting what you have is where the quick gains usually live.

Start with a conversation, not a plan. When you're overwhelmed, the worst thing you can do is add another big project. The first thing we do with owners who feel stuck is help them see what's actually going on. Often the list in your head isn't the real list. One clear hour of talking usually surfaces two or three things that, if fixed, take the pressure off everything else. That's a free call. No agenda, no sales pitch.

Most team conflict in small businesses isn't actually about the people. It's about unclear roles, unclear expectations or a leadership gap that's been open too long. Fixing the structure usually fixes most of the friction. The uncomfortable truth is that as owners, we sometimes tolerate behaviour for too long and then act too harshly when it boils over. A neutral third party can help you see the pattern, have the hard conversation properly and put something in place that stops it repeating.

Three things. First, we've actually run businesses. John spent 35+ years inside SMEs and larger organisations in engineering, manufacturing, distribution and construction. Second, we don't parachute in with a slide deck and leave. We get involved, do the work alongside you and stay until the change actually sticks. Third, we protect five things in every engagement. Your time, your money, your confidence, your reputation and your energy. If a recommendation puts any of those at risk, we don't make it.

When the business you're running isn't the one you want to be running anymore and changing it from the inside no longer feels like the answer. The signs are usually emotional before they're financial. You've lost the spark, you're going through the motions, you're holding on more out of identity than strategy. Exit doesn't have to mean selling tomorrow. It can mean stepping back in stages, handing over to family or building the business up so someone else can take it further. The worst exits happen when owners wait too long. The best ones start quietly, two years ahead.